1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to data processing systems, and in particular, to a compensation management tool in a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for managing compensation in an organization.
2. Background
Employees are a major asset of an organization. Hiring and retaining employees involves many different factors including compensation, work environment, geographic location, and other factors. Compensation is a major factor for many employees. Providing compensation within an organization that is competitive with other organizations is important to hiring and retaining employees in an organization. These organizations may take various forms, such as, for example, a company, a partnership, a city, a charitable organization, a government agency, or some other type of organization that has employees.
Identifying an appropriate level of compensation is a challenging process for many organizations. Organizations employ various tools to identify what the organizations consider to be appropriate compensation for employees. For example, an organization may perform reviews on a yearly basis. These reviews may include factors such as performance, talent, potential growth, and other suitable factors. Meetings may be held with employees to present and discuss these reviews.
Additionally, market demand for employees with certain skills or for selected positions also factor into identifying an amount of compensation. The compensation of employees in other organizations with similar backgrounds and positions may be identified from studies or surveys. Additionally, consulting firms may provide information used to set compensation within the organization.
Budgets for departments, value of the employee to the company, performance, and other factors also may be taken into account in setting the compensation for employees. In many cases, the performance and the value of the employee within the organization may be a major factor in setting the compensation as compared to other factors.
Currently, comparing the performance and other factors of employees within the organization is often more difficult and time-consuming than desired. The compensation and information about performance may be reviewed in reports generated as part of a review process. Further, this information also may be entered into spreadsheets that can be viewed when setting compensation. Viewing reports and spreadsheets, however, may be more difficult than desired when an organization has large numbers of employees.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that take into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues. For example, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that enables visualization of compensation information to reduce the difficulty and complexity in setting levels of compensation.